Means for regulating water circulation in water-tube boilers



- Aug; 14,1923.

I 1,465,118 S.E.DESCHER MEANS FOR REGULATING WATER CIRCULATION IN WATERTUBE BOILERS Filed Feb. 6, i920 QIMVENTOR.

WITN ESSES Patented Aug. 14, 1923.

urrs sra'r SAMUEL E. nins'onnnfor rrrrsBune-rr. rnnnsrnvemn.

'MEANS FOR BEGUIiATiN'GWATEP-i CIRCULATIGN I'll' WATEB-TlJBE BOILERS.

Application iiiearebru r efiea o; sem no. saw/s.

To all whom it mag concern Be it known thatv I, SAMUEL Drnsornna acitizen of the United States, and a resi dent of Pitts-burgh, in'thecounty ot Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, made ,a

new and useful Invention in. Meansior tubes of water tube boiler. V

p Anobject of the invention is to produce means for regulating the flowof water through individual tubes of the boiler, which i iscapableofbeingeasily fitted to and easily removed from' the tube.

A further object is-to produce means for regulating or modifying thecirculation of waterthroughlindividual tubes of the boiler, which is soarranged and so constructedthat it forms in effect a director orseparator for separating the steam and, the water issuing from suchtubes of the'boiler as enter the steam liberating space of the boilerat-anangle and for directing the water and-steam in separate paths offlow. i '1 These and other objects wh'ch.will be 'made apparentthroughout the further description of the invention are attained bymeans of apparatus embodying the features herein described andillustrated. Inth'e drawings accompanying and-forminga part of thisapplicatiom Figure l is a side elevation of a flow restricting device orplug embodying my invention and shownin connection with a fragmentalsectional view of the tube sheet through which the'water tubeprojects; V

Figure '2 is a sectional view line 22 of Figure 1. j V Figure 3 is anend view of theflow restricting device or plug shown in Figures 1 and2.i

The circulation of water through cachindividual tube of a water tubeboiler is ependent somewhat upon the inclination and location of thetube in the boiler. For example, those tubes which are subjected to themost heat and those which stand most nearly verticalpare subjected to arapid circulation along the of the water. An unduly rapid circulationthrough certain of the tubes of a water tube boiler is objectionablesince it occasions priming in the steam drum and as a result the boilerdelivers wetinstead of steam free of moisture.

Boilers ordinarily give'the best performance, from the stand point ofquality of steam delivered, while operating between certain. definitelimits above normal rating. When the boiler is operating outside of saidlimits it is apt to deliver steam of objectionable quality, since whilethe circulation throughout the entire boiler may be accel erated itcarries a greater percentage of water in relationto the steam andconsequently theflow through certain tubes of the boiler is apt to beobjectionably high inthe quantityof water carried with the steam.Thisdiiiiculty may be obviated by employing a flow restricting device inconnection with such tubes of the boiler as are subjected to an undueacceleration of the water and steam traversing them. My presentinvention consists in the, production of a flow restricting device whichmay be readily and easily associated with a tube of the boiler for thepurpose of checking the flow through the tube.

In Figure 1 of the drawing, 1 have somewhat diagrammaticallyillustrateda water tube 4 projecting through a tube sheet 5 and flaredat the end as is customary in con necting the tube to the shellof theheader. The tube is shown equipped with a flow re stricting device orplug 6, which is not only oapableof checking the flowthrough it but isso equipped that it to some extent functions asla separator in thatit,directs the steam issuing from the tube, upwardly along the tubesheet and directs the water down- Wardly. In this connection it may besaid that vertical water tube boilers generally have the tubes s0arranged that the greatest quantity of steam is generated in such tubesof the boiler as enter the steam liberating space of the top drum at aninclination, in some cases so great as to be almost horizontal, and thatwhere I have referred to the separator action of the plug 6 1 refer toits action when associated with such tubes. 7 j

As illustrated, the plug 6 consists of a head portion or cap 7 and ashank or body portion 87 The body portion is so tapered that the devicemay be fitted to thetubc by merely driving it into the opened and flaredend. In addition the taper is such thatthe device may bereadily removedfrom the tube when removal is necessary. As shown llO V the tube.

the shankiis provided withthree ijadiating fins 9, which extendlongitudinally and are so located with relation to each other that eachextends in a radial direction et -an angle 0.1": substantially 120 toeach of the otherfins. Each fin is shown as decreasing; in width andradialthickness from the. head towards the opposite end of the shank.-With this arrangement the shank is in effect tapered from the headtowards the other end and may therefore be easily-inserted into'the endof the tube and when so inserted into three separate passages ofsubstantially equal cross sectional area." The dimensions of the plug 6.are such that when the shank is drivento place in the endof a tube, thehead 7 stands away 'from the end of the tube a suilicient amount'toprovide a delivery space of adequatearea tor the three spaces 't'ormedbyits'insertion' in The shank may be so formed that eachfin will provide afluid or-liquid dirooting surface which will change the direction ottheHow of thefiuid-or liquid is suing from the tube with a minim-um amount0t friction and shock. This may be accomplished by employing liberalfillets atv the junction of the finswith the head. Thehead portionisshown provided with an outerconvex face so that the plug-may be drivenhome witha hammer with little danger ofbreaking' the head oiithe shankor 0t fracturing the head. 7 In inserting the plug into a tube, itis-desirable to solocate the fins with reference to the tube that onefin points downwardly since this will provide two water delivery spaces10 onthe lower side of the tube and one steam delivery space ll o n*theupper side of the tube. lVith such an -arra-rrg;e ment, the naturaltendency of the steam to rise is accentuated, and the steam is directedupwardly as previously described. 'The cap 7 standing away from the endof thetube as shown in li 'in ure,lrendersit easy.to-remove the plugwhen the tube with which it is associated needs cleaning, since the headmay be employed in the operation of il'reeing' the plug; from the tube.

In the drawings 1 have shown the plugfi equipped with means for holdingit in place within the tube, so as to prevent it from beinc; blown outin case it becomes loosened by vibrations of the boiler or for otherreasons. As shown the plug is provided with a snap ring 13 whichencircles-the radiating fins and is located at a point substantiallymidway the length Oil? the shank. As shown a slot 14: is provided in theface of eachfin 9 for the reception of the snap ,ring. The

ring is of such dimensions that it will engagethe slots 14 and at thesametimebe place in a tube. theplug. the. ring. is placed over the smalldivides the delivery end of the tube held into gripping engagementwiththe inner face of the tube when the plug 15 in In mounting the ring; on

end of the shank and forced along the ta- 7 pered fins untilitsnapsinto. the slots. The outer face of the ring is shown rounded. Thisfacilitatesthe operation of inserting: the ring and shank into the tubesince the rounded face causes the ring to ride over such "shoulders asmay be formed on the inner surface ot the tubeduring the operation ofsecuring it tothe tube sheet. The flare at the end-of'thetubeaccommodates the en trance of the ring. By employing such rings there isn'odanger of the plugs jarringloose,-nor oft-heplugs being blown out ofthe tubes.

fItw-ill-be-apparent that the dimensions of the plug may be varied'tor-thepurpose ot restricting the fiow througlrthe tubes the desiredamount, that the plugs may be made cit-cast iron or any suitablermetal.

*Whilel have described but one embod} ment'of my'inventionyit will beapparentthat various changes, modifications, auditions, oromissions maybe made in the plu illustrated without departing "from the spirit andscope of my invention asset-forth by the appended 1 claims.

What I claim is: p r

1; A flow restricting plugfor boiler tubes having three si ibstantiallyequally spaced and radially extending tube engaging fins, each-havinga-slot thereinand alsnap ring located in said slots and-adapted toengage the inner face of thetube iwhen the plug is inplaee -i-n a tube.

2. A flow restricting .plug'adapted to-bef inserted into. a-evater-tiibe of a boiler coro prising a drivinghead'and sin-integrally formedshank having aring-engaging slot formedtherein, anda; snap ringsurroundins said shank and engaging said slot and the inner face of thetube when the plug is in place-inn tube.

In combinationwith the delivery end of a water tube of a boiler, atlow-restrict ing plugprojecting into the flared end or the tube,comprising a shank having sub stantially radiallyexten'ding fins, eaclrhaving a" slot 'formed therein, and aheadintegrally formed withsaid'shank andstanding away =f-rom the end of the tube so to provide ;awater delivery space: between i the tube and the hea'd, and a"snapringlocated in said slot and adapted to engage the! innerface-of'tl1e*tube when the tube is inpl ace in theslot. Y

In-testimony whereof, I ?have hereunto subscribed my name this 3rd day;of February, 1920. q v SAMUEL BDIESQHER.

